Breaking Billionaire Rules

Chapter 2

Ethan's POV

Julian had always been our father's favorite.

Maybe that's because he has a way of portraying himself as the good guy all the time. According to my father, I was the black sheep and he will always use every opportunity he sees to prove how discontented he is with my decisions.

My father believes in power and legacy, he wanted me to follow his footsteps and become part of the family business after I graduated from Yale, but I had other plans.

A big plan to start my own company, the very same Blackwell Enterprises that I oversee today. Although he was happy I was able to succeed on my own, he still sees Julian as the very embodiment of everything he wanted in a son.

His loss by the way!

Julian knows this for sure, and therefore makes use of this opportunity to overstep his boundaries as the Vice President of the company.

I made him Vice President not out of my own free will, but under my father's instruction after the family's company went bankrupt and he was left stranded.

I had no option but to comply, and since he already had the required experience and skill, it wasn't much of a big deal for me.

But trust me, that was the worst decision I had ever made in my life. Julian has tried to overthrow me several times since he got into my company, under the guise of steering the company in the ‘right’ direction.

He once called for a stakeholders meeting when I was still trying to get back on my feet after the Lexham scandal. Stakeholders and investors had started running away, wanting nothing to do with my company.

But after sometimes, I was able to win back the trust of investors and the company was back on its feet.

He had come to my office this morning to lodge a complaint about a certain proposal he had sent to me weeks ago, wanting to make a deal with a big industry from outside town.

He could have done the deal behind my back if it was something that didn't require CEO consent. He knew it would be dead on arrival if he told them he was doing it without me, so he was forced to wait for my approval.

I rejected it after going through the whole agreements, as most of them weren't going to favor our interest in the long run.

Which made him come crashing into my office this morning.

“Remember that I will always have the interest of this company at heart.” These were his last words after I ordered him out of my office before we heard a sound of something falling loudly on the floor, the noise cutting us off our heated discussion.

Isla Morgan is in her early twenties, eyes sharp with chestnut brown hairs. I moved closer towards her as my brother walked past her and left. I had never seen that face before until now, and that face did look beautiful.

I directed her to the waiting room after she told me why she was here, and made my way back to my desk.

Thinking about any interaction I had with Julian alone give me PTSD, so I choose to go over the day's investment insights as I picked up a copy of the VANGUARDS newspaper.

Nathan Ellis walked in without knocking, as usual.

“The investors from China called to inform us that they are at the airport already, they will be here in approximately fifteen to twenty minutes time. So you should get ready.”

Nathan is the closest person I have to a friend in the company. He is the Innovation strategist at the company, and although he can be hard to with at times, he always makes sure he delivers up to expectations and doesn't play with work at all.

He is from a middle class family which believes solely in hardwork and resilience, more reasons why I always love to have him around.

“And on another note, I saw Julian exit the elevator on my way here, and he doesn't look happy at all. What trouble has he brought with him this time?” He asked, drawing a chair closer to him as he tried to sit.

I breathed heavily, contemplating in my mind whether to answer his questions or just brush it off.

Nathan stared at me impatiently, he seemed to notice my hesitation.

“Well, he came here talking about a proposal I rejected some days ago which he sent to me, a proposal to make partnership deals with Velvetline Industries. Does he think that is the best thing the company needs right now?” I said angrily.

Talking about my brother and his troubles sometimes gives me some kind of rage I can't explain.

“Wait. What is he now? The CEO? I think it's high time you done something about your brother always hanging on your neck, Ethan.”

Nathan said, his expression mixed with both concern and irritation.

“You think I don't try enough. I thought making him the Vice President would give him the kind of power he had always wanted, but it seems he keeps craving for more. Anyways, I've made my decision and that is final. He can rant all he wants, it won't change anything.” I said, calmly this time.

Nathan sighed, lowering his voice.

“I hope so, Ethan.”

I stood up and walked towards the glass walls behind my desk as Nathan phone rang and he started speaking to someone on the other end of the call.

I sighed, staring staring out at the towering skyline.

“The investors are in the conference room already. We shouldn't keep them waiting.” He said as he dropped the call, and I immediately went over to my desk to pick up some important documents.

I closed the office door as Nathan followed behind and we made our way to the conference room downstairs where the investors were waiting.

As we were about to enter the elevator going downstairs, I bumped into Margot King and some other lady, they happened to be going our way so we both entered the elevator.

“Hello, Mr. Blackwell.” Margot greeted politely.

I looked closely at the lady beside her and it was the intern from earlier. Isla Morgan.

“Hello, Mrs Margot. Is the new intern under you?” I asked, stealing Isla a glance. She didn't flinch and stood confidently quiet as the elevator started moving.

“No actually, she's under Strategy department. So she's with Nathan Ellis.”

“Oh wow. That's great. What's the name?” Nathan asked rather too excitedly. I have known him for many years now and not once have I seen him greet an employee this way.

“Isla Morgan sir.” She said, flashing a smile so intimidating that I was beginning to feel jealous.

I stopped the interaction before it could go any further.

“Mrs. Margot, make sure to show her her workspace and don't forget to give her the company's code of conduct. Nathan won't be available anytime soon, we have an investors’ meeting coming up right away.”

“No problem, sir. I got it covered.” Margot responded.

Margot King is my oldest employee. She had been with me through all the storms Blackwell Enterprises had experienced. And asides being the Head of Human Resources, she protects the company and serves as a quiet moral compass for everyone.

Nathan gave me a glance, as if trying to demand an explanation for what I just did. He seemed to have grabbed a hint of why I had stopped him from talking to Isla, which was unlike me.

And although I wouldn't admit it, I already felt something trigger in me the moment she bumped into my office this morning.

We got out of the elevator, and she followed Margot, but I couldn't keep my eyes off her back view until she was out of sight.

“We are late for the meeting, Ethan.” Nathan shouted at me.

“Oh yeah, right. The meeting.”